The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Ptolemy - full transcript

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Pity!

Pity! Pity!

- Stop it! Stop it!
- Let me go! I have to.

No! We got to save
her, Mama! We got to!

- No! Stop! Stop it! Stop it, baby.
- No! Let me go!

Pity! Pity! Pity!

Maude! Maude!

Help!

Pity! Pity!

Pity!

Pity.



Pity.

Don't be scared, Maude.

Don't be scared. Come on.

No, no. No, get off! Get off me!

Please. Baby!

Let me get my baby!

Let me go get my baby!

My baby! Somebody get my baby!

We can stop now, Pity.

Good morning.

Hey.

Oh, you feel hot.

Been running through fire.

Tar paper shack up in flames.



My little girlfriend, Maude Petit,
was in there, about to burn up.

I run in and saved her.

That sound like a
good dream this time.

I don't know if I'd call it that,
but it was a long time coming.

Yeah, well, whatever it was, you
seem nice and calm. That's new.

Yeah, well, not up here.

I remember 54, 55 years ago,

I was reading this comic book
about Thor, Norse god of thunder.

His old man, Odin, had
a... a chair, a throne.

Throne was named Hlidskjalf.

And when Odin sat
on that throne,

he could see everything,
everywhere, all at once.

That's how I feel up here.

Maude and my mama. Sensia. You.

Me?

You ain't even known me a month.

Wouldn't be no me sitting here
if you wasn't sitting next to me.

Is I'm still hot?

Yeah. Take some of this water.

It's for your pill.

I'm gonna go take a shower.

Ms. Shirley Wring called.

W-R-I-N-G!

Yes.

Hello?

It's me, Ptolemy.

I knew who it was.

I knew it was you
before the phone rang.

What can I do for
you, Ms. Wring?

- You can say "yes."
- Yes.

Don't you even wanna know
what you saying yes about?

Sure I do,

but if I say yes now or after,
it won't make no difference.

You kinda crazy, ain't
you, Ptolemy Grey?

I am, but it's the crazy
what keeps me going.

Well, if it keeps you going
to having lunch with me,

I'm thinking Monique's
Tea House on Hill Street.

I'll be at my
apartment, two o'clock.

Can it wait? Just a day.

I'm taking some new medication,

and it's kinda getting
the best of me right now.

- So, tomorrow?
- Without a doubt.

- One o'clock?
- I'll be there.

- Bye, Ptolemy.
- Bye, Shirley.

Bye, Shirley.

Oh, I'll be out
your way in a sec.

Just wanted to use
the mirror real quick.

I like that one.

Yeah? I wasn't too sure about it
at first, but, I don't know, maybe.

How's Ms. Wring?

Invited me to tea.

- Tea?
- This afternoon.

All right, well, if
y'all excited then…

How long you and Roger
gonna be out this afternoon?

I don't know. Why?

Well, I was thinking maybe after lunch,
I'd come home, do a little entertaining.

- Define "entertaining."
- Man got to have some secrets, ain't he?

All right, well, you
keep all your secrets.

What kinda time you need?

Well, lunch ought to
be over about 3:00.

I'd say, couple more hours.

A couple of hou...

Okay. Well, don't
hurt yourself, Uncle.

I ain't gonna make no
promises on that count.

Hi.

How you doing?

- Fine, you?
- Good.

- You all right?
- Yeah, I'm fine.

Hey, Pitypapa.

If you had a free day, rent
paid, money in the bank

what would you do?

I'd get us up before the sun.

Take the bus down
to Lake Altoona.

We'd take off our socks and
shoes, walk down to the shoreline,

watch the sunrise.

That all?

Then we'd go to a museum,

surround ourselves
with the beauty of art.

Yeah.

Mr. Grey.

Good morning.

- What's your name?
- Hernandez.

Pleased to meet
you, Mr. Hernandez.

No, Mr. Grey. Not
Mr. Hernandez, just Hernandez.

I like that name.

- You from around these parts, Hernandez?
- 40 years here. Thirty-eight, really.

When I was seven, my parents came up
from a farm in the south of Mexico.

Still speak Spanish?

Nah, just got this
accent is all.

I know some words.

Funny, the things that
stay with you, huh?

Yeah.

Yeah, it's funny.

Excuse me.

Them eyes there,
w-what do you see?

I-I don't...

I mean, w-when you look
ab... about the eyes,

just tell me what you see.

I don't know.

Determination, maybe?

- Conviction. Defiance.
- No, no, no.

I mean, yeah, y-you...
You probably right.

But what? What I meant was…

The color.

W-When you look around his eyes,
what... what color is that?

Blue?

- Blue?
- Blue.

Blue…

- Sure is.
- Yeah.

Blue.

Thank you, ma'am.

No problem.

Blue.

Blue.

Blue.

Look at you, boy.

There you go. Let's get it.

Go on. Cast it.

Get a good one.

Come on. You can do
better than that.

- Why are we sl... stopping?
- 'Cause we're here, Mr. Grey.

- Where's here?
- Lake Altoona.

That's where you said you
wanted to go next, no?

Yep. Yep, sure did.

Pretty.

Seen prettier, but it'll do.

It's almost time.

I know.

Best be getting home.

One last thing,
then I'll be there.

I promise.

Don't be too long, okay, Pity?

I'll try.

Here we are, Mr. Grey.

Home again, home again.

Thank you, Hernandez.
Been a pleasure.

Likewise.

This here…

This here's for you.

Thank you, but no tips.
Against regulations.

Oh, well, don't
think of it as a tip,

you know, think of it as a...
a favor or extended services.

Now, there's gonna be a man, a
severe-looking man with spiky hair,

gonna... gonna come down here
to my apartment building door.

What's this about, Mr. Grey?

Oh, it ain't nothing
for you to worry about.

It's just that when he comes in,

I'd like for you to
wait, like, five minutes

and start blowing your horn like
you came to pick me up or something.

You know, blow your horn like
the world coming to an end.

Blow it like the
devil, all right?

- That's it? That's all you want me to do?
- Yes, sir, that's it.

If you can find it in your
heart to do that for me,

you'll make an old man happy.

I'll do it for you, Mr. Grey.

No need to pay me.

Thank you. Thank you, Hernandez.

That's very kind of
you. I appreciate it.

Yes, sir.

- You have a good evening.
- You too.

Two plus nine equals 11.

Two plus nine equals 11.

Robyn.

I'm sitting here waiting...
Waiting for the truth.

Even though I can remember
all the way back now,

I don't know for a
fact what happened.

And a man needs
to know the truth.

I know I do, so I
can act accordingly.

I'm... I'm sorry for what's
about to happen here today.

But I got to set things right.

That motherfucker got
to pay for what he done.

I know this ain't
what you wanted…

But ain't no other way.

That's him. The truth
in a man's body.

I know you in there, old man.

I love you, Robyn.

- Who is it?
- You know damn well who it is.

Open the goddamn door!

Come on in. It's open.

Have a seat, Mr. Gulla.

When I was a boy in Burdette, Mississippi,
old men used to tell us boy children

not to drink liquor out of
no bottle that wasn't sealed.

Oh, yeah? Now, why's that?

Well, back then, men had enemies

put a dram of poison in
your liquor in a minute.

Yeah, but you's drinking
from the same bottle.

Did you see me drink?

You better stop fucking
around, old man.

You're liable to
get yourself hurt.

See, and that right there is another
reason might be poison in that bottle.

Like you say, I'm old,

throwing my life away
just to ease the pain.

You telling me you put
something in this whiskey?

You kill my nephew?

I ain't trying to
poison you, Alfred.

You better not.

I see you looking
at my gold coins.

Thinking about taking them?

Doing more than thinking.

Besides, what good
they gonna do you?

What you gonna do?

Travel off to Vegas, sow
your wild oats, nigga?

You so old your dick
don't get hard no more.

Matter of fact, what Nina told
me, you can't even go outside

'cause there's some woman
that come and rob you

every time she fucking see you.

Now, imagine that.

Grown man scared of a bitch.

This nigga ought
to be bullwhipped.

What would you do if
you had these coins?

Take 'em to a Jew jeweler. If it's
real gold, I sell it for weight.

Exactly what I
expect a fool to say.

- And who the fuck you calling a fool?
- You.

Look at these doubloons.

They old. Real old.

Original American coins.
Collector's items.

One of these worth more
than $40,000 to a collector.

Four for the gold
they made out of.

All right.

Well, you give 'em to me, and
I'll get a collector to buy 'em.

I can fix it so you'd get
one of these every month,

or its value, for the next year.

I can do that. All you gotta
do is answer my question.

- Thought you already knew the answer.
- I do.

But I wanna hear it
come out your mouth.

Now, why the fuck would
I do something like that?

Same reason your
Black ass is here.

For the money.

Two coins every month, or
their value, for a year.

Watch it, son.
This ain't no joke.

Yeah.

Yeah, I killed your
poor little nephew.

Shot him dead in the head 'cause
he tried to take my girl away.

Now I got his house.

I got his woman, my woman.

Driving in his car.

Sleeping in his bed.

His child and mine, both
of them call me daddy.

Wh-Wh-What?

Who saw me in that alley?

Pull out your gun,
boy! Draw on him.

Hey! Look here. Who
saw me in that alley?

Newspapers didn't say nothing
about no damn witnesses.

Do you believe in
the devil, Mr. Gulla?

I got your devil right here.

Yeah. Now, I'ma take
these gold coins.

And I think I'ma go ahead
and stay with Nina, yeah?

And then you gonna tell
me who saw me that night.

I ain't telling
your punk ass shit.

Now

if you don't give me that money
and tell me what I wanna know,

I'ma choke your old ass out.

And then I'ma beat that
stuck-up bitch, Robyn,

till she give up all your
gold coins and secrets.

Robyn, no!

Oh, man.

- You're strong for an old man.
- That's why I'm still here.

Yeah, you think you can beat me?

I don't know about that, but I
can sure as hell shoot your ass.

Hey, hold on, old man.

Sensia shot her
husband with this here.

Hey, hey! Sh...

What?

You mother...

Oh, I couldn't let
him hurt Robyn.

Get him, boy! Get
him before he escape!

Hurry up!

No, no, no.

Oh, God.

Mama?

You can't let him hurt Robyn.

Sensia?

He ain't no better than
the men who lynched me.

No, Pity. No! We
can go swimming.

Stop them men from fighting.

You always told me, Unc…

Family all you got.

- Come on, baby.
- Get him, boy.

Hey!

- Fucking...
- Somebody! He don't look right.

Fuck!

Oh, God.

- What's this?
- Someone help me.

- Somebody help me.
- Hey, call an ambulance!

- What you doing?
- I'm trying to help you.

Get off. That's my
shit, man. Give...

- I'm trying to get help for you! Stop!
- I'ma fucking kill you.

Stop! Let me go!

Give it! Let me go! Let me go!

Hey! You... You! You, g-get
away from that man, thief!

Get away!

- I'm gonna call an ambulance.
- Fuck you!

Oh, God.

You... I got you.
I got your ass.

I got... I got him, Reggie.

I... He gonna pay.

That's right. You're gon...

Run.

Ru... Run. That's right, run.

Please help me. I ca... I c... I got
this... this... this motherfucker.

He gonna... He... He gonna
pay. He... He gonna pay.

Look out, boy!

Coy?

- It's over, Pity.
- Put down the weapon!

- It's over.
- I got it. Mr. Grey.

Mr. Grey, I need you
to lower that weapon.

Need you to do it right now.

You understand me?

I see you, Mr. Grey. I see you.

I got you. I got you.

I got you.

- He's clear.
- I got you.

Oh, Lord. Lord.
Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord.

Lord have mercy.

I got you, Mr. Grey.

Walk with me. All
right? Walk with me.

Walk with me.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.

You have the right
to an attorney…

Mr. Grey?

Mr. Grey, can you hear me?

Mr. Grey.

Satan.

Is we in hell?

How are you?

Beat the devil.
Ain't that something?

Yes, you did.

How you feeling, Pity?

C-Coy... Coydog.

I d... I done... I
done what you asked,

and... and the treasure
stayed a treasure

'cause it was anointed in blood.

I always knew you would.

Hey, old man.

Reggie! Reggie!

How you feel?

Oh, Reggie.

Reggie, I'm so sorry.

Sorry about what?

I... Oh, I... I... I forget.

Ain't nothing to be
sorry about, Uncle.

You did the best you could.

I... I guess I did.

Don't fight it, Uncle.

I can get that for you.

Robyn.

First bird of spring.

All rise.

Sit, please.

I have studied the briefs
presented, and it seems clear to me

that after this meeting, I will be able
to adjudicate this case in its entirety.

Well, I would like to
take this opportunity

to renew my objection to the special entry
into evidence Ms. Barnet's team offers.

Your Honor, it is stated clearly
in Mr. Ptolemy Grey's will

if a suit is brought against his wishes,
this testimony must be brought to light.

After all, we are here to test
the viability of his last wishes.

You don't need to tell me
why we're here, Ms. Liem.

I see no reason why Mr. Grey's request
cannot be entered into evidence.

No matter what Ms. Barnet
or her lawyers say,

there can be only one resolution

as to the question of the validity
of Mr. Grey's so-called last wishes.

I have here 33 statements

from neighbors, friends,

from business owners from
around Mr. Grey's neighborhood.

They all say, without exception,
that Mr. Grey was showing signs

of what the law understands
as non compos mentis

for at least the last six years.

A time well before Ms.
Barnet ever met him.

Mr. Grey's family has taken
comprehensive care of all of his needs.

The only reason Ms. Barnet
ever became aware of him

is because Hilda Brown asked
her to look after him once.

That's right.

Whatever Ptolemy Grey leaves to
this world should go to his family

and to the people who
actually care about him.

Not to some young woman

who obviously took advantage
of a confused old man.

Mr. Abromovitz, what do you
say about Mr. Malman's claims?

Ptolemy told me his family
might dispute the will

using just these arguments.

I suggested he go see Angela Liem
in order to rebuff any notion

that he was mentally
challenged in any way.

I have three red
apples, two oranges,

and a sausage link I
bought at the market.

Oh, well, when I was a kid,

a sausage link and some homemade
applesauce would have made my day.

How many apples do I have?

Is I'm talking to
you or to the camera?

To me is great.

Well, you said you had three,
so I guess I got to believe you.

What is today's date?

Today's date is April 21, 2021.

That's three days after
my sister June's birthday.

You remember that, Niecie?

What is your full name?

My name is Ptolemy Roberts Grey.

Ptolemy, after a Greek king of Egypt
who was also Cleopatra's father.

Roberts, which was my mother's
maiden name, her family name.

And Grey after my father, who
I never had a chance to meet.

Do you know why we're
here today, Mr. Grey?

Yeah, in order for me
to make a binding will,

I have to prove that I'm in
my right mind, of sound mind.

You are aware of the video camera
recording our conversation?

Yeah, this is my first
time being on video camera.

When I was a child
in Mississippi,

precious few people even
had a regular camera.

So, it's all right with you
that I use this method to prove

that you are not experiencing any
mental difficulties at this time?

Oh, yes, ma'am.

- So, you wanna make a trust?
- Yes, I do.

And I want to make
Robyn Barnet my trustee.

I mean, not that
she'll own everything,

but that she'll be the one
to say what happen to it.

And do you feel that your family does
not deserve what you leave behind?

No, it ain't like that.

I mean, they good people,
for the most part.

But I just want Robyn to be the one in
charge of the money on a month-to-month

and to make sure that the money
is there for Reggie's kids

when they wanna go to college

and to probably put a little
money on... on Hilliard's books

when he eventually go to prison.

And why do you want Ms. Barnet
to be in charge, Mr. Grey?

Robyn the kinda person gotta
be in charge of where she at.

You know, she make sure everybody's
okay before she go to sleep at night.

You know, order just
come natural to her.

And, you know, she ain't
wasteful or frivolous.

Can I... Can I say
something personal to her?

Go ahead.

Robyn, I want you to know

that because of who you are and
the things that you've done,

I know that Coy would be glad that
I'm leaving his legacy in your hands.

You saved me.

You helped me keep my promise.

And I want you to know that all them
years before you, they mean nothing.

I love you, Bird.

Well, obviously, we reserve the
right to investigate all documents

and to have our experts
evaluate this... this evidence.

But there are other
issues at hand here.

Such as?

Such as the age of this woman.

- She's a teenage girl.
- I'm 18 years old.

A teenage girl, with barely an
equivalency high school degree,

who, by the way, assaulted my
clients with a deadly weapon.

Objection. There is no evidence that
Ms. Barnet has ever attacked anyone.

No police report, no 911 call...

She was seen chasing a woman down
the street, beating her with a chair.

Hearsay.

She never went to see
Mr. Grey in the sanatorium.

That's because they...

Because Mr. Grey's blood family was
given temporary conservatorship,

and they banned Ms. Barnet
from even visiting him.

- For six months.
- And then there's this lawyer.

He has held the purse strings

to Mr. Grey's trust
for over half a year.

Working in close contact with Ms. Barnet,
he has given the plaintiffs almost nothing

and refuses to release a
schedule of distribution.

That is as Mr. Grey wished it.

- Oh, so you say.
- Are you calling me a liar, Malman?

- Oh, please. Come on now.
- Gentlemen, please, sit down.

Look, all I'm saying, Your Honor,
is that this is an age-old case

of a young woman seducing
an older man for his money.

You're going after her.
You're going after me.

Gentlemen, sit down!

Please, sit down.

Or I will have you
both held in contempt.

It's time for lunch.

Let's take a recess
and reconvene at 2:30.

Ms. Barnet. Do you mind
staying for a bit to talk?

Did you threaten
Hilda and her son?

You're trying to trick me.

- No. I'm just trying to understand.
- Understand what?

This whole case is odd.

Dementia that
momentarily disappears,

an old man with billions of
dollars and no formal education.

Well, Papa Grey finished
the third grade,

and then he read books for
the rest of his life, so…

What about you?

Your father shot down in the streets
and your mother a prostitute.

You know, there was this... This
white man who used to pay my mother,

and he came over to the house
one day when she was out.

He tried to rip off my
clothes. I pull out a knife.

He cut me here before I could
lay a lamp upside his head.

I stabbed him eight times.

And it was only a white man's
luck that he didn't die.

But my mother's face
when she saw me,

she pulled it together,
she sewed me up herself.

She did what she could.

I don't care what my
mother was. She loved me.

So did Mr. Grey, it seems.

I've never known
anybody like him.

He waited his whole life to do
right, and he made it by a hair.

- He murdered Alfred Gulla.
- Yeah, well, Alfred deserved it.

Maybe you should have
your lawyer present.

Why?

Because you just
admitted to assault.

So, what? You gonna
throw me in jail?

I might decide against
you in the hearing.

- Oh, I don't care about that.
- You don't want the money?

What I want?

I want my degree in astronomy,

and I want a seat on Elon
Musk's flight to Mars.

If you don't want the
money, why are you here?

It's because I love Papa Grey.

And I know he would've wanted me to
stand up for myself and represent him.

What if I decide that you
should oversee Mr. Grey's trust?

I didn't know about
the recording he made.

Before I saw that, I was...

I was pretty sure that... that you
were gonna decide for Niecie and 'em.

And Mr. Abromovitz told me that
they might could break the will.

So, I already made
my peace with it.

But what if the
decision goes to you?

I have three and a half
years of college to get a BS,

and then between four and six years
for graduate school after that.

So, in... in ten years
I'll have my education,

and Artie and Latisha will just
be getting ready for college.

And by then, Hilly would have
either made something of himself

or he'd be in jail, and...

And Ms. Wring will
probably be dead.

So, if that's all
Papa Grey wanted…

Robyn.

You can go on.

Are you sure you're all right?

Yeah. We ain't blood, but she
'bout the closest thing I got.

Okay.

Mr. Malman said we can
dispute the decision.

I don't wanna fight
you, Auntie Niecie.

So, if you need to go back
to court, that's on you.

- How much?
- What?

How much?

Okay.

Enough to pay your
bills and Nina's too.

Enough to get the kids through college,
Hilly too if that's something he wants.

And Papa Grey asked me to start

a leadership grant for young
Black people trying to do better.

I'm gonna talk to Mr. Abromovitz

about starting a foundation and
putting most of the money into that.

- Okay?
- He's my blood, Robyn, not yours.

Then how come you never
treated him like blood?

You think I didn't
treat Papa Grey...

If you'd stepped one
foot in that apartment,

you'd be overseeing
his affairs, not me.

You have some damn
nerve, little girl.

Telling me what you think I did and
didn't do for Papa Grey all these years.

Years.

You understand that? Not weeks.

- I'm sorry about what happened to you...
- Right.

I am.

And maybe I could've done better
by you. I see that now, but…

Robyn, I took you into my home.

- Then you kicked me out!
- Because I was trying to protect you.

- How do you not see that?
- Whatever.

'Cause Papa Grey didn't even
know me, and he took me in.

He didn't want nothing from me,
and I didn't want nothing from him.

Come on, please. Please.

I'm not trying to hurt you.

I'm just... I'm just following
what Papa Grey wrote down.

I... I gotta do that.

I missed you.

And I gotta keep fighting.

- But...
- I got to do that.

Hey.

Hey. Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm good. Thank you.

Papa Grey?

Papa Grey.

Papa Grey.

Hi.

- B-Bird?
- Yeah.

First bird of spring.

Yes.

How you feeling, Uncle?

There's devils in here.

Girl, you better get out of here
before they lock you up too.

You see how they got me
tied up to this here chair?

- Yeah.
- Yeah. N-No.

No. This a... It's a bed.

- A bed. Yeah.
- Yeah.

But we gonna get you back
to your old apartment.

And I'm gonna take care of you.

And so is Ms. Shirley Wring.

W-R-I-N-G.

W... W-R-I…

W-R-I…

W-R-I-N…

- G.
- G.

There was... There was a fire.

Big one.

It last forever.

The devil come up out of it…

But I ain't tell him nothing.

I'm a big boy.

Yes, you are.

I... I saved Maude Petit.

I runned in the fire.

I just took her out.

Our clothes had
smoke all over them.

Hey.

But now everything is okay.

It is?

Yeah. It is.

Everything okay.

That's a book?

I could read some
of it if you like.

Okay.

"There are more stars in the universe
than grains of sand on the shore."

"And they all come
from the same place."

You know where that
place is, Uncle?

Home.

Yeah.

Don't cry.

Home.

One thing you gotta remember,
Pity, is that we born dying.

Every gasp we take is one
gasp closer to eternity.

If you deny that, then
life lose all its purpose.

You gotta take life with death if you
wanna have any chance to be a man.

But I miss Maude. And
now she gone forever.

You remember how she
sounded when she'd laugh?

You remember you and her running
out here on the Tickle River here,

laughing and splashing?

One time we grabbed
a napping catfish

and dragged him up onto the
bank before he could do nothing.

Mama made us catfish stew
that night, and we helped.

Well, that's the magic of life.

As long as you can think of your
little girlfriend and smile, then

somewhere she's smiling too.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.